Dodge CEO on the benefits of the Ron Burgundy effect

Tim Kuniskis, Dodge president and CEO, discusses the success of the Ron Burgundy ad campaign and what risks where involved when deciding to tap the fictional news anchor to be the face of Dodge. "The real success has been the entertainment of the spots," Kuniskis says.

Dodge CEO Timothy Kuniskis told CNBC on Friday that he isn't worried about reports of Ron Burgundy talking badly about the company's Durango after he was hired to promote it because "the return on investment [from the campaign] is huge," Kuniskis said on "Squawk on the Street."

The first commercials featuring Will Ferrell as the lovable but clueless Burgundy were released in early October and tied to the debut of "Anchorman 2." Some of the ads have nearly 15 million views on YouTube.

In November theHuffington Post reported that Will Ferrell (while in character as Ron Burgundy) called the Durango a terrible car during an appearance on Conan O'Brien's talk show "Conan."

When the late-night talk show host informed Burgundy that Durango sales rose 59 percent since the ads started airing, Burgundy replied: "Pretty incredible, pretty amazing. And what's so amazing about it is, it's a terrible car. ... Just horrible craftsmanship," he said.

Kuniskis said he was not surprised, or upset by the remarks.

Source: YouTube

Ron Burgundy's Dodge Durango advertisement.

"Ron Burgundy is a fictitious character ... they had a lot of fun, they took some creative latitude, and I think it worked out great for everybody."

Kuniskis said the marketing campaign was a "bargain" for Dodge and Paramount Pictures, which released "Anchorman 2," but he did not go into details about profit from the deal.

"Was there additional media money spent? No," Kuniskis said. "But, did they [the studio] get a half of billion pre-release teaser spots for their movie? Yes. So that's what's in it for them."